Ethnography unbound : power and resistance in the modern metropolis

In this powerful volume, ten original ethnographies explore two important issues: the ways in which people confront the threats and disruptions of contemporary life, and the ways in which researchers can most effectively study the modern metropolis. With its twofold agenda, the volume emerges as a multi-layered dialogue between researcher and researched, participant and observer, educator and educated. These essays, produced in a refreshing collaborative effort by a senior scholar and ten graduate students, examine many facets of American urban life, among them new social movements that mobilize and work on behalf of people with AIDS and that fight against nuclear war; the decisive roles South East Asian women play in building new immigrant communities; and school programs for African-American children. Ethnography Unbound also explores the value of participant observation and the extended case method in social research, underlining how these methodological approaches deepen and enrich scholarship in the social sciences. The book poses theoretical and methodological questions in an open and lucid manner, prodding a rethinking of ethnographic research. Scholars and students alike will find it an essential text for the study of methodology and contemporary American life.

In this powerful volume, ten original ethnographies explore two important issues: the ways in which people confront the threats and disruptions of contemporary life, and the ways in which researchers can most effectively study the modern metropolis. With its twofold agenda, the volume emerges as a multi-layered dialogue between researcher and researched, participant and observer, educator and educated. These essays, produced in a refreshing collaborative effort by a senior scholar and ten graduate students, examine many facets of American urban life, among them new social movements that mobilize and work on behalf of people with AIDS and that fight against nuclear war; the decisive roles South East Asian women play in building new immigrant communities; and school programs for African-American children. Ethnography Unbound also explores the value of participant observation and the extended case method in social research, underlining how these methodological approaches deepen and enrich scholarship in the social sciences. The book poses theoretical and methodological questions in an open and lucid manner, prodding a rethinking of ethnographic research. Scholars and students alike will find it an essential text for the study of methodology and contemporary American life.

PREFACE 1. Introduction Michael Burawoy 2. Reconstructing Social Theories Michael Burawoy PART 1 * NEW SOCIAL MOVEMENTS Introduction to Part 1 3. Silence, Death, and the Invisible Enemy: AIDS Activism and Social Movement "Newness" Joshua Gamson 4. "Fight the Power": Two Groups Mobilize for Peace Josepha Schiffman PART 2 * REORGANIZING THE WORKPLACE Introduction to Part 2 5. Dividing Up the Struggle: The Consequences of "Split" Welfare Work for Union Activism Alice Burton 6. Managing Without Managers: Crisis and Resolution in a Collective Bakery Ann Arnett Ferguson I PART 3 * NEW IMMIGRANTS Introduction to Part 3 7. A Maid by Any Other Name: The Transformation of "Dirty Work" by Central American Immigrants Leslie Salzinger 8. "Unlikely Heroes": The Evolution of Female Leadership in a Cambodian Ethnic Enclave Shiori Ui PART 4 * FROM CLASSROOM TO COMMUNITY Introduction to Part 4 9. Mr. Henry Makes a Deal: Negotiated Teaching in a Junior High School Leslie Hurst 10. Coming Together: An Interactive Model of Schooling Nadine Gartrell PART 5 * RESEARCHING THE RESEARCHERS Introduction to Part 5 11. The Politics of Prevention: Ethnographers Combat AIDS Among Drug Users Kathryn]. Fox 12. Convincing Sociologists: Values and Interests in the Sociology of Knowledge Charles Kurzman CONCLUSION 13. The Extended Case Method Michael Burawoy APPENDIX 14. Teaching Participant Observation Michael Burawoy NOTES BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX